13-year-old trades iPod for Walkman, reports on mysterious ancient artifact
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted June 29th 2009 9:24AM
posted June 29th 2009 9:24AM
- When I wore it walking down the street or going into shops, I got strange looks, a mixture of surprise and curiosity, that made me a little embarrassed.
- It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.
- I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down "rewind" and releasing it randomly - effective, if a little laboured.
- When playing, it is clearly evident that the music sounds significantly different than when played on an MP3 player, mainly because of the hissy backtrack and odd warbly noises on the Walkman.
[Via Richard Lai]
I'm feeling pretty old as I read this article. I used to have Walkmen too.
I'm 24 and this makes me feel old. Can't really imagine not knowing how tapes work...
Damn, I've never had a "Walkmen" before.
Plural, genius.
(In before someone quoting Wikipedia that I was wrong).
Yeah right, let's call Humans, "Humen" from now on.
And lets call mutants "mutent".
I'm 26 and this makes me feel really old! One year for Christmas all I wanted was a Walkman so I could listen to my :cough, cough: MC Hammer tapes anywhere I wanted. Before laughing keep in mind he was well respected in 1990-91! Anyway, I got my walkman and I used to run around outside listening to that thing non stop. I couldn't believe how great it was to be able to take my music with me.
Then I remember getting one of the early discman(men?) in 1994, skip tastic experience is all I can say and quite a lumbering beast of a device, bigger than my old walkman was lol.
The fact that this device is now so ancient a 13-year-old has never even seen one, shocks me incredibly, although I guess it shouldn't. Hey, when I was a kid I listened to my parents vast record collection so I knew how records worked even though cassettes had beaten them out at that point, no excuse on the tapes kids!
Er, let's.
I'm 73, and this makes me feel pretty old.
Haha... well I'm 20 and I feel old. I can't believe at age 13 kids have never seen a walkman. I guess if they ever did they wouldn't remember it.
Hell, I'm only 19, and I feel old reading this... I remember using my Dad's walkman when I was little. Oh, the memories.
Guys, once I asked my nephew if he knew who Wonder Woman was, and he couldn't answer. He is 13 now, and that was BEFORE the new episodes of Justice League in Cartoon Network... It almost made me cry in despair.
@boolean22
Er, Walkman, Wonder Woman ? Whats the connection ?
@xValentine
By Walkmen, I meant the plural of Walkman. I had 2 of these. Oh, the shame.
Well, my girlfriend's nieces were amazed when they played vinyl records for the first time. The oldest one was 14, I guess.
Now I am very confused, how old is 32 exactly?
ghex, it's about 2^5.
And Martians, "Martien".
@j_g_puff
2^5, classic! well done, lol.
I had a walkman back when I was a kid. It had the option to automatically switch sides :D Then I got my hands on a shock protected Diskman... It was a wrap after that. That thing went EVERYWHERE with me lol
I call the franch, "the french"...
On my Walkman, if you half held the play button and the FF button simultaneously, the songs sounded like they were performed by the Chipmunks.
aaahh the wonders of technology, having chipmunks always ready to sing songs to you.
Analog FTW!!
Analogue*
I'M SORRY, I THOUGHT THIS WAS AMERICA!
Both are acceptable... but this story comes from the BBC... so hmmmmmmmm
Both are acceptable, but analogue is correct. And analog is wrong.
What an interesting dialog/dialogue about analog/analogue.
Interesting, though slightly off-topic on a gadget blogue.
It's an analog iPod analogue.
What made you think this was America (or Amrca if you prefer)?
What state is the Internet in?
state of confusion
State of Disarray
Hopefully
"When playing, it is clearly evident that the music sounds significantly different than when played on an MP3 player, mainly because of the hissy backtrack and odd warbly noises on the Walkman"
Is it REALLY clearly evident? The vast majority of MP3s have hissy overtones when high frequencies (eg. cymbals) are reproduced, which is why I don't purchase tunes online unless I can aquire uncompressed or lossless forms.
Love the Porcupine Tree, btw. Best current band out of GB period!
This reminds me of when I met a chick in a bar and we spoke about my collection of old 45s; and she told me she preferred Rifles.
Actually, the internet is in Virginia.
The kid should try bring that to school and do some moonwalk.
"I'm sorry, I thought this was America!" is a quote from South Park.
Put down Family Guy for a while and check it out.
The trip from lowbrow to upper-lowbrow will be en experience.
"Is it REALLY clearly evident? The vast majority of MP3s have hissy overtones when high frequencies (eg. cymbals) are reproduced, which is why I don't purchase tunes online unless I can aquire uncompressed or lossless forms."
Portable cassette players always sounded like crap, and you could never get away from the grind of the mechanism either. Considering the cassettes in it were probably pushing 20 years old and in a bad state of magnetic decay, plus the playback head was last cleaned... when? Probably never. In that state, that Walkman probably made the worst 92kpbs non-VBR sound like a audiophile bliss.
Analog and Analogue are not exactly the same. Analog is the correct word.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analog
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analogue
Hold that thought while I walk my dogue.
That kid sounds like Buzz Lightyear...
I know no-one's going to read these comments again (least of all BarCODE), but for what it's worth:
http://www.answers.com/analogue
http://www.collinslanguage.com/results.aspx?context=3&reversed=False&action=define&homonym=-1&text=analogue
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=2714&dict=CALD
They all say that you're not right.
A lumber jack in the forest hauls his Logues down to the river for transporttion to the mill.
What rolls down stairs, alone or in pairs, and over your neighbor's dog?
What's great for a snack, and fits on your back?
It's logue, logue, logue!
It's logue, it's logue, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
It's logue, it's logue, it's better than bad, it's good.
those were the days ;)
oh yes.... gosh!!! I can't imagine I used to own something that size!!!! This also remind me of the last and thinnest walkman available in the market (a thin cassette holder size device) before I switch to a discman..... Man! I'm old!
Oh yes, I had a red one of these: http://www.piazza.ch//images/items/thumbnail_largest.php?item=11264881&image=1
Actually THINNER than a cassette box when closed with no tape in. Auto reverse, FM radio, one AA battery. Awesome, and still working... sort of.
I'm 17 and i just feel old for no apparent reason
Yeah thanks Engadget, for making me feel old and shievel Today.